Apparatus for measuring board footage of lumber



2 Sheets--Sheet l E. M. CONWAY APPARATUS yFQR MEASURING BOARD FOOTAGE OFLUMBER Sept. 24, 1968 original Filed ocr. 21,1965

Sept. 24, 1968 E. M. cFoNwA-Y 3,402,471

APPARATUS FOR MEASURING BOARD FOOTAGE OF LUMBER original Filed oct. 21,1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WQ@ fm ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,402,471APPARATUS FOR MEASURING BOARD FOOTAGE OF LUMBER Edward M. Conway, GrandRapids, Mich., assignor to Conway Lumber Rule Company, Grand Rapids,Mich., a corporation of Michigan Original application Oct. 21, 1965,Ser. No. 500,141.

Divided and this application July 14, 1067, Ser.

6 Claims. (Cl. 33--76) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Conveyor apparatus formoving pieces of lumber sideways over a plurality of measurement scalesdisposed transversely across the conveyor in mutually spaced parallelalignment, such that the lengths of each piece of lumber may bedetermined by the number of scales present between its ends and thewidths of each such piece may be read from one of the scales which itmoves over.

This application is a divisional application of the parent applicationentitled Apparatus for Measuring Board Footage of Lumber, filed Oct. 2l,1965, Ser. No. 500,141 by Edward M. Conway.

This invention relates to the measurement of the board footage ofindividual pieces of lumber, and more particularly to a new and uniqueapparatus for making such measurements, having greatly improved speedand efficiency.

In the lumber industry, soft woods of the type used for various buildingconstruction and the like are cut into predetermined standard sizes, andsuch lumber is referred to as dimension lumber. Hardwood, on the otherhand, is considerably more valuable than construction or dimensionlumber, and is cut so as to produce the most useable wood and the leastwaste. Consequently, hardwood comes fr-om the sawmill in widely varyinglengths and widths, although most usually in standard thicknesses.Consequently, hardwood lumber must be accurately measured by the personswho process and utilize it for manufacturing purposes.

Merely by considering the vast amounts of hardwood lumber which are usedannually in this country, it will be quite apparent that the variousmeasuring or tallying operations by which the board footage of thislumber is determined, represent a sizeable and costly factor in theutilization of this wood. This is particularly true when the method ofmeasurement which has heretofore been used in every known instance isconsidered. Basically, this method centers upon the use of a manualwidth scale which has been used in this country since the Civil War.This scale somewhat resembles a wooden yardstick which has a handle onone end and a flat blade on the other end, positioned perpendicular tothe length of the scale. Each flat side of the scale has a number ofmeasurement indicia in the form of several longitudinal series of smallnumerals and markings, which are burned into the wood and which arecorrelated to different lengths of lumber, so that when the scale isplaced across a piece of lumber and the width of that piece is read atthe appropriate indicia in the appropriate series, the reading isactually in board footage, subject of course to being multiplied by athickness factor if that piece is of a size other than one inch thick.Scales of this nature are operated by hooking the blade on the far sideof a piece of lumber and then bending the wooden scale by its handle sothat the scale lies flat across the width of that piece of lumber. Also,the blade at the end of the scale may be used to ice flip pieces oflumber onto their opposite side, for inspection and the like.

Merely by stating the prevailing method of board footage determinationin the foregoing manner, it should be clear that this method isextremely time-consuming and ditiicult and subject to error, since thedifferent series of measurement scales are very close together and themarkings very diicult to read, particularly since they so much resembleeach other. While these difficulties are well known in the industry, andwhile it is also known that due to the value of hardwood lumber ameasuring error in even a single cai-load may amount to several hundreddollars, the foregoing method of determining board footage has been thestandard and, so far as is known, the exclusive one, with no changes orinnovations of any note having occurred over the years.

Accordingly, it is a major object of the present invention to providegreatly improved automated measurement apparatus for determining theboard footage of lumber, whose arrangement not only produces faster andmore efficient operation, but which also reduces to the point ofelimination the probability of making erroneous readings. The objects ofthe invention further include the provision of a greatly improved newform of measurement scale which is arranged to Ibe used manually, andalso the provision of both a new form of scale and a new manner ofarranging a number of such scales, by which automated operations may beutilized for providing heretofore unknown speed, eiciency, and accuracy.

The foregoing major objects and advantages of the invention, togetherwith numerous other objects and advantages no less a part thereof, willbecome increasingly apparent following consideration of the ensuingspecification and its appended claims, particularly when taken inconjunction with the accompanying illustrative drawings setting forthpreferred embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an overhead perspective view of a rst preferred embodiment ofa scale device for automated operation;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary frontal perspective view of a representativeinstallation of the scales of FIG. 1, illustrating automated operation;

FIG. 3 is an overhead perspective view of a second preferred embodimentof the novel scale device, arranged for manual usage; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary plan view of a portion of the scaleof FIG. 3, showing details of its construction and arrangement.

Briefly stated, the present invention provides a new concept formeasuring scales for determining the board footage of lumber. The newscale comprises an elongate body structure having :at least one seriesof successive measurement indicia on at least one side of the bodystructure and extending lengthwise thereof. Each of the indicia in eachsuch series has a lengthwise extent which is correlated with apredetermined lumber length, such that by determining the width of apiece of lumber in terms of said indicia the board footage of that pieceiS automatically known. Each of the indicia in each such series furtherincludes a vividly colored area having a color different from that ofthe adjacent indicia in that series, and each such indicia is preferablya solid block of such color which extends transversely acrosssubstantially the entire width of the body structure.

Moreover, the invention provides a composite apparatus for the4automated measurement of board footage utilizing the foregoingmeasuring scale devices. This basically includes a conveyor means formoving pieces of lumber sideways through a measuring station, and aplurality of generally parallel measurement scales at the stationaligned longitudinally with but spaced transversely across said conveyormeans at predetermined distances. The said conveyor means is arranged tomove the lumber over said scale arrangement, such that the width of thelumber may quickly be measured upon one or more of the scales and thelength of the lumber may be determined by the number of spaced scaleswhich lie between the ends of the piece of lumber. With accurate lengthand width measurements, the board footage of that piece of lumber is ineffect determined.

Referring now in more detail to the drawings, the embodiment of thepresent measuring scale seen in FIG. 1 includes an elongate bodystructure 12 which is gene-rally flat in shape and which has a series 14of successive adjacent measurement indicia such as 16 and 18 visiblefrom one side thereof. As illustrated, each of the indicia such as 16and 18 preferably extends across the entire width of the body structure12, and the height or lengthwise extent of each of the indicia is to bedetermined in correlation with the particular length of lumber which -aparticular scale such as 10 is intended to measure, so that themeasurements obtained by using the indicia actually read directly inboard feet. That is to say, a separate scale such as scale 10 is to beused (in a manner explained subsequently) for measuring the board feetin each different length of lumber. This is in accordance with thepractice in the hardwood lumber industry of ascribing a lengthmeasurement to pieces of lumber which is the next smallest even numberof feet which that piece actually measures. For example, if a board isexactly twelve feet long, it is a twelve foot board. If a board istwelve feet, one-half inch long, it is a twelve foot board, and if aboard is twelve feet, eleven and three-fourths inches long, it still isa twelve foot board. Consequently, since the usual range of hardwoodlumber is from four to sixteen feet in length, a total of thirteenindividual measurement scales is all that is yrequired to cover theentire range.

As has been stated, the height or lengthwise extent of each of theindicia such as 16 and 18 is to be determined by the particular lumberlength that the scale is intended to measure. For example, if the scaleis to measure six foot long pieces of lumber (assuming that the lumberis one inch thick) the lumber must be at least two inches wide tocontain a single board foot. If it is two inches or more wide but lessthan four inches, it will contain one board foot; if it is at least fourinches wide but less than six inches, it will contain two board feet,and so on in accordance with width. Consequently, a scale 10 intendedfor six foot lengths of lumber will have a blank space 20 at its bottomtwo inches high with no indicia thereon, the first indicia will then betwo inches in height or lengthwise extent, the second similarly twoinches, and so forth. The exact height of different indicia on differentscales intended for different lengths of lumber will thus be seen tovary in accordance with such lengths, so that the indicia on the scalewill always read directly in board feet for the correct length oflumber. Consequently, it is desirable that each indicia be labeled withfigures such as are seen in FIG. 1 which indicate the `board footage ofa -piece of lumber whose width falls anywhere within a given indicia.

It is of utmost importance to point out that in accordance `with thepresent invention each of the indicia on the various different scales isto be given a vivid color that is different from the color of theadjacent or succeeding indicia in that particular scale, such that eachsingle indicia in each series upon a scale actually comprises a solidblock of color. Such colors should preferably be of a bright andoutstanding nature, and in addition to being different from the color ofthe adjacent indicia, the colors should be coded, as for example bybeing repeated only at each interval of ten indicia. For example, onevery acceptable sequence of indicia would be green, pink, yellow, black,red, blue, silver, orange,

violet, and gold, with the same vsequence being then repeated for longerscales. Thus, if for example the three board foot indicia was green, thetwelfth board foot indicia would be gold and the thirteen board footindicia would again be green. Other than this, or a possibletwenty-three board foot indicia, the color green would nowhere elseappear in that particular series. Similarly, gold would appear fortwelve board feet, twenty-two board feet, and the like, but nowhereelse.

There is a definite reason for the presence of the indicated colors, andalso for the coding of the colors. This reason has to do with humancharacteristics in visible recognition and decision-making, which hasbeen found to be greatly facilitated with regard both to speed andaccuracy when the delineation between adjacent indicia is a completedifference in color. The human response to such a situation is directlysimilar to that in a go-no go measurement system, i.e., the measurementclearly is one or the other, and the decision as to which is instantlyarrived at. This is of a very considerabl importance in the measuring ofhardwood lumber, since the inspectors who perform this operation spendmost of their productive time in simply making a visual observation anddeciding what it is that has been seen. Through the use of the presentmeasuring scales, the efficiency of such an operation has been found tobe improved by at least a factor of two to one, and more in most cases.

The body structure 12 is preferably made from a hard and generally rigidplastic substance such as acrylic plastic, and the series of indiciathereon is preferably provided by means of silk screen stenciling orprinting of colored acrylic inks thereupon. By this procedure, the inksactually bond with the body structure into an integral unit. Moreover,the series of indicia is preferably covered by a hard and clear coveringsuch as another layer of acrylic, indicated by the two layers shown inFIG. l. The second layer is to be securely fixed to the body portion, asby bonding the two portions of plastic together.

The preferred arrangement for utilizing measuring scales of the naturejust described is depicted in FIG. 2. A conveyor means 22 is providedwhich has a number of endless moving conveyor members such as 24, 25,and 26, usually referred to as skids, by which different lengths ofhardwood lumber such as 28, 29, and 30 are moved edgewise toward ameasuring station 32. The latter basically consists of a series ofmeasuring scales 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e, and the like, each of whichare aligned longitudinally relative to the conveyor and parallelrelative to each other with a predetermined Spacing between each, forexample a one foot spacing. The arrangement of the scales 10 is suchthat scale 10a is positioned a distance from one side of the conveyormeans corresponding to the first or minimum acceptable length of lumber(for example one foot). Scale 10b is then positioned one foot away 4fromscale 10a, scale 10c is placed one foot from scale 10b, etc.

One end of each of the pieces of lumber such as 28, 29, and 30 isaligned by the conveyor means in transit, as for example by a conveyorelement known as an end aligner, of a type very well known. Further, theconveyor means 22 and the measuring station 32 are arranged such thatthe pieces of lumber are moved over the top of the measuring scales,preferably by inclining the parallel scales downwardly from the conveyormeans, so that when the latter moves a piece of lumber to the top of thescales, the lumber slides downward thereover (or upon appropriate guidesinstalled laterally of the scales), to rest with the bottom edge of thepiece of lumber in alignment with the bottom of each of the scales, andwith the piece of lumber lying flat against all of the scales betweenits end extremities. Thus, with the aligned ends of each of thesucceeding pieces of lumber coming to rest at substantially the sameposition near the rightward end of the measuring station, the particularmeasuring scale immediately rightward of the opposite end of the pieceof lumber will automatically indicate the effective length of thatpiece, i.e., theA next smallest even one foot measurement.

The individual scales such as a, 10b, 10c and the like are to bepositioned in accordance with the particular length oflumber with whichthe indicia on each are correlated, i.e., scale 10a in FIG. 2 would befor one foot lengths oflumber, scale 10b Afor two foot lengths, etc.Thus, the determination of the amount of board footage in eachsucceeding piece of lumber brought to the measuring station by theconveyor means is extremely easy. Firstly, the appropriate length scaleis instantly perceived, and secondly the particular colored indiciablock on that scale over which the edge extremity of that piece oflumber falls will very quickly be perceived. When it is remembered thateach indicia actually reads directly in board foot units, it will beapparent that practically in a single glance requiring only an instantof time, an operator may with great accuracy measure the board footageof a steady succession of lumber moved by the conveyor means.

Once this measurement has been made, the conveyor means and themeasuring station preferably provide an automatic means `for lifting thepiece of lumber away from the array of measuring scales and onto acontinuation 22' of the conveyor means, which continues to move thelumber toward its ultimate destination. Such a removal means is easilyprovided through a series of pivotable rocker arms 34 positioned betweenadjacent scales., with the arrangement such that by either a manual or atimed automatic actuation, the rocker arms 34 pivot forward to move thelength of lumber lying against the scales out of the way in time for thenext succeeding piece of lumber to be deposited into place.

While the measured spacing of the parallel scales seen in FIG. 2 hascertain clear advantages in and of itself in the measurement of lumber,the importance of the solid blocks of color forming the indicia on themeasuring scales cannot be overemphasized. The average operator quicklylearns the numerical sequence corresponding to the different colors, andthe coding in units of ten over which colors are repeated. With a pieceof lumber lying atop the vividly colored series of indicia, it is acompletely obvious measurement process, the decision of which maypositively be made in the shortest possible time.

A second preferred embodiment of the concepts underlying the measuringscale 10` seen previously are illustrated herein in FIGS. 3 and 4. Thisembodiment 110 is arranged for use as a hand or manual measuring device.Accordingly, it includes a -handle portion 112 at one end thereof, andan indexing blade means 114 at the other end. The latter is secured soas to extend generally perpendicular 4from the body portion 112 of thescale, and it may be used for a variety of purposes including indexingthe end of the measuring scale with an edge extremity of a piece oflumber. The particular embodiment 110 of the measuring scale preferablyhas a clear or transparent body portion 112 which is preferably made ofthe polycarbonate plastic substance known as Lexan, since this substanceseems to very satisfactorily provide the required properties o-f hightensile strength and impact resistance, along with the requiredtransparency, heat resistance, and insensitivity to temperaturevariations.

As in the case of measuring scale 10 of FIG. 1, the manual embodiment110 has colored indicia series arranged lengthwise of its bodystructure. However, in the case of the manual scale 110, a total of sixindicia series 114a, 114b, 114e, 114d, 114e, and 114f are provided oneach of the two sides of the body portion (FIG. 4). Further, the bodyportion and indicia series are preferably so arranged that the sideextremities 136 and 138 beween the edge of the body and the iirstindicia series found inwardly thereof, as well as a strip such as 140,142, 144, 146, and 148 is provided between each tWo adjacent indiciaseries which is substantially transparent, and through which a view isprovided. The indicia series such as 11411, 114b, etc. are eachcorrelated with one of the standard lengths of lumber which will beencountered, and consequently, the Separate indicia such as .116 and 118in the various series thereof each vary in height or lengthwise extentin the same manner as did the separate indicia 16 and 18 of the scale 10of FIG. l. Also, while each of the separated indicia of the manual scaledo not extend completely across the width of the body portion, each suchindicia nonetheless is a solid block of color, which is preferably codedin the same way as the indicia 16 and 18 of the scale 10. By providing atotal of six different indicia series on each side of the scale 110, allbut one of the expected normal lengths of lumber will be provided for,and in accordance with known procedures, one series may be chosen foruse with a conversion factor to represent a multiple of the actuallength for that particular indicia. For example, the series for thelength of eight feet may actually be used to measure sixteen footboards, simply by doubling the board footage measurement indicatedthereby.

The basic construction of the scale 110 is very similar to that of scale10 already discussed. That is, the body portion 112 is preferably madefrom a pair of xedly secured layers of the aforementioned plasticmaterial, each of which has previously been provided, on the sidethereof which is to be positioned on the inside of the body portion,with the required six indicia series, preferably such that when the twolayers are joined to form the body portion, the six indicia series oneach will be positioned in direct alignment with each other, i.e., backto back, so that upon viewing either side of the scale, only one set ofindicia series will be visible. As in the case of the scale 10, theindicia series on the manual scale 110 are preferably printed as by silkscreen process. However, this is not to be construed as the onlyacceptable method of manufact-ure, since quite conceivably printedstrips of materials relatively insensitive to temperature changes mightbe embedded between the two layers of body-forming material, as forexample certain foils and the like.

Having now set forth in detail the structural features of my novel boardfootage measurement scales, and of the arrangement by |which automatedmeasurements of lumber `may be made, many of the important advantagesobtained through the invention will likely be apparent to those skilledin the art. The feature of the colored indicia in each measurementseries is very important, for the reasons of human efliciency describedhereinabove. Further, it will be noted that in both the scale 10intended for automated usage and the scale 110 intended for manualusage, the indicia series are arranged so that the particular piece oflumber being measured actually appears on each side of the indiciaseries. As will be understood, this serves to considerably facilitatethe measurement decision, since it is immediately apparent to even. anyunpracticed eye which particular indicia the edge portion of a piece oflumber lies within, and since each indicia actually represents a boardfoot measurement, the total deter- -mination of board footage in eachparticular piece of lumber requires only a single glance. Consequently,the present invention offers operating economies which are verysubstantial and which frequently will exceed one hundred percent.

It is quite conceivable that those skilled in the pertinent arts may,upon becoming familiar with the foregoing specification and the specificembodiments disclosed therein, conceive of certain other embodiments ofthe concept underlying the invention, or of certain modifications andalterations in the embodiments herein disclosed. All such embodiments,variations, and modiiications which incorporate the concepts on theinvention and which are clearly within its spirit are thus to beconsidered as within the scope of the claims appended herebelow, unlessthese claims by their language specifically state: otherwise.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for the measurement of board footage of lumber, comprisingin combination: conveyor means for moving pieces of lumber sidewaysthrough a measuring station; a plurality of generally parallel widthmeasurement scales at said station; said scales aligned lengthwise withbut spaced transversely across said conveyor means at predetermineddistances; and said conveyor means arranged to move said pieces oflumber over said scales at said station such that the width of thelumber may be measured upon one or more of said scales and the length ofa piece of lumber determined by the number of spaced scales lyingbetween its ends.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein said conveyor means isfurther arranged to align one end of each such piece of lumber at apredetermined position relative to said spaced scales, such that thelateral position of each scale denotes a known length measurement forthe lumber.

3, The apparatus defined in claim 2, wherein each of said scalescomprises an elongate body structure having a series of adjacentmeasurement indicia thereon which extends lengthwise thereof, each ofsaid indicia in each series having a lengthwise extent which iscorrelated with and determined by the lumber length measurement whichthat scale is positioned to indicate, such that each indicia actuallyprovides a measurement in terms of board feet; and each of said indiciaincluding a vividlycolored area of a color different from that of theadjacent indicia in that series, whereby the speed and accuracy ofmaking such width determinations are greatly facilitated.

4. The apparatus dened in claim 3, wherein each indicia in each suchseries comprises a solid block of. such color extending transverselyacross substantially the entire width of said body.

5. The apparatus defined in claim 4, wherein each of said scalesincludes a hard and substantially clear covering over said series ofindicia, said cover being xedly secured relative to said body.

6. The apparatus defined in claim 5, wherein the series of indicia oneach such scale is color coded, such that the color of each indicia ineach series is repeated only at intervals of ten indicia.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS HARRY N. HAROIAN, PrimaryExaminer.

